Utah Office of Tourism targets Chinese tourists

Published on : Friday, July 7, 2017

Chinese travelers represent one of the fastest growing sources of tourism revenue for Utah, and business owners and the national parks are making alterations to cater to these travelers. Organized by the Utah Office of Tourism, the national parks have started making infrastructure changes to appeal to international visitors.

Although the number of Chinese visitors to Utah totals less than half the number of Canadian visitors, overall Chinese spending is fast approaching the amount spent by Canadians.

Rising disposable income, fewer restrictions on foreign travel and an appreciating currency has contributed to a nearly 10-fold increase in Chinese spending abroad since 2000, according to the International Trade Administration’s 2015 “Top Market Series” report on China, the most recent figures available.

The Utah Office of Tourism has developed an educational program for businesses seeking to work with the Chinese market. At a May meeting of the Grand County Travel Council, Grand County Council member Curtis Wells applauded the travel council’s decision to host the program.

According to Wells, “I’ve witnessed firsthand as a businessperson where somebody’s cultural differences and not accommodating to them can hurt your business, and the Chinese-Asian tourism volume is increasing rapidly. I’ve seen it personally first-hand so getting out ahead of the curve is good.”

The Utah Office of Tourism has also created promotional content for WeChat — a popular social network platform in China — and is in the process of developing content for Weibo, another popular network.